Johnson HT-2011 hyd lifters

M_Body_Coupe said
Hmm...interesting take on the situation, because your message certainly reads like I basically haven't followed any of the proper engine assembly processes...which happens NOT to be the case here.

Springs were matched up to the cam. They were checked, valve close & open pressures were verified, all were good. Pushrod length was checked, it was good. The lifters I picked were picked purposely to run with 0 preload and indeed they worked very well. Something did happen to cause valve float (again, only my suspicion, but nothing else upon the teardown suggested otherwise)...it may very well be that with the motor revs going up to 6500-6700 that was just too much for the valve springs...again, I did not spec out these springs for this cam, therefore I really had very little decision to make here.

That "idiot" statement in particular doesn't sit well with me at all, poor choice of words on your part. But given that the forum is about information and experience sharing I'll refrain from assessing your suitability for passing judgement.

Anyways, re-read my post pls. I will suggest that given that the very same lifter manufacturer switched to a hard retaining clip design and replaced the very flimsy sheet-metal clips suggests to me that they recognized a failure point in their design and had chosen to address it. Like it or not, in the case of these lifters the new design works better and if that means it has a wider marigin for error...well, that's just great...I am happy to obtain that designed-in insurance for the same price of the old part if anything to prevent problems from occuring over which I had very little control.

Don't take offence where none was intended. When you aren't sure, it's best you don't automatically be offended by what others say based on a misinterpretation of what was said.
The statement was a generalization about people who say never quite a bit without stating the variable whys.
We tend to steer people away from things based on thee assumption them or their builder are inept, meanwhile the part itself is fine for what it was intended for or when used the correct way.
A redesign...yeah many companies have to do this, be it poor design or user/assembler error variables galore....in that instance they call it "idiot proofing" so that they can avoid lawsuits and or smear campaigns about how even though bob over revd the motor to valve float and even bent valves that it's somehow the lifter clips fault that damage occurred.- I believe my point is as valid as the clip redesign though more from the root of the issue...which is the builder and operator a lot of the time. This is not an insult. We have all been that guy before . If we aren't breaking things along the way...then we aren't always learning much.
You say you checked those aforementioned things, but say you had no choice in the springs used. How did you check the seat/open pressures? Did you factor in the springs softening up after a heat cycle? Do you own a rimac?
You admit you had float ...take credit for the over rev, it's ok, it's your creation and it did exactly what you gave it the capability to do...it just didn't have enough for how you drove it. You learned.